9 wonderful years

I want to give a shout out to my man. This morning I woke up to a beautiful and touching card from my honey leaned up against my expresso machine. There was a note beside it that said "
Happy Anniversary! The expresso machine is ready to go. You just need to turn it on. There is even enough water if you want to steam milk. Enjoy your new thermos. Either way, it's washed and ready to go. Love, Steve
I don't make expresso often...just lazy I guess, so it was a special treat to wake up and enjoy some yummy expresso with vanilla soy creamer. And at 6am, I SOOOOOOO needed it.
And there on the kitchen counter is the coolest travel mug I have ever seen!! You push a button and you can drink from any side of it and it keeps beverages cold or hot up to 7 hours!!!
Anyway, after 9 years my husband knows me even more....Flowers? Those are nice, but the cat eats them. Candy? Nice, but I am back doing Weight Watchers. A thermos?? Best gift I could have received!!
I love you, babe. Thanks for understanding me AND STILL loving me.

Kill your TV?

I always saw these bumper stickers on the back of cars that read those 3 little words, and I actually never thought those people were crazy.....instead I admired them. But I also liked MY shows: Dirty Jobs, Amazing Race, anything on HGTV or FoodNetwork, Top Chef, Burn Notice...I didn't want to "kill my TV".
Well I don't know what it was, probably an urging from the Lord, but I have had this feeling the last couple of months that our family should get rid of our TV. Not the box itself (I did want Esther to be able to watch some shows and Steve and I to rent some movies on the weekend), but our cable. It was just too easy to "turn it on". When I would get up in the morning, I would turn it on to see the weather and the local news and then sometimes it would stay on for hours. Then when the kids were down for a nap, I would turn it on, basically just to have some noise in the house. It was like, what am I afraid of?? Well we kept putting it off and putting it off...but we finally did it. It's been a little over 2 weeks and I don't regret it at all. It seems like I have SO much more time in the day (crazy, huh? lol) and I am learning to enjoy silence...enjoying the sounds of the birds in the morning and the coffee maker dripping and Isabel snoring. Sure it was nice to have on when I was doing dishes or ironing, but I have found that talking to God is even better. Plus when there is constant noise all the time, how can I hear Him if He wants to talk back? :)
We do have Netflix, so we can watch some movies or even TV shows in the evenings and on weekends, but with 2 little kids, after we get them to bed, we barely have enough time to just sit on the couch and catch up on each other's days. I am also liking the fact that my kids will grow up being able to find other ways to entertain themselves. I love the thought of playing games with them as they get older, and making cookies and hearing about their day instead of sitting down in front of that glowing box in the evening. So it seems like this decision is going to stick...sure I miss Top Chef (a new season just started, boohoo) but when I did try to find it online to watch, I decided...nah...I'd rather listen to the sound of Esther tickling Gideon and him giggling.

Pool time

For the wedding weekend we stayed at the Laguna Inn (courtesy of my in-laws) and enjoyed their pool more than anything. It was right outside our room, so every morning when Esther woke up, it was there...just waiting for her to jump right in. And jump in we did. When we weren't doing wedding stuff, we were out by the pool.

Steve's Aunt Susan is crazy about our kids and it shows. She bought them tons of little gifts and can't help but love on them. Looks like they feel the same about her.

Steve's 2nd cousin Ruth with Esther. I thought it was appropriate to have a picture of them together, since their namesakes have books of Bible named after them.

Esther kissing her Uncle Scotty bye-bye...have fun in Fiji!!!

Dancing fools

Scott & Kristy's wedding

Well this past weekend was Scott & Kristy's wedding and it was beautiful. I would love to say the Crandell4 had a wonderful weekend, but with 2 little kids in tow, the weekend was full of late nights, no naps, puke and broken plates. But what matters most is that it's official.....Kristy is a Crandell and we couldn't be MORE thrilled.
Steve (the best man) and Esther (the flower girl) getting ready for the big day.
Pez was used to be a very effective bargaining tool.

My wonderful in-laws...don't they make a beautiful couple??

I always love the anticipation on the face of a groom...I don't think I have ever seen 2 more handsome men.

What looks like a long trek for 2 little kids. They did awesome!!!

The beautiful beaming bride.

Steve giving the best man toast. He did such a good job....funny and touching.

I love this picture of the Crandells.

Esther would not sit still all evening...I think she bugged every table there.

My parents attended and they saved my life that day. They helped SO much with the kids...once again, I don't know what I would do without them.

This was one of the only pictures taken of me and thank God....I was a sweaty mess. Did I mention is was about 90 degrees and about 80% humidity? And then it doesn't help having a little heater strapped to your body, lol.

Gideon enjoyed himself..can't you tell??

Esther finally hit the wall too.

I think this picture pretty much sums up our weekend....beautiful, yet messy.

Wow, what a difference few months makes

The first picture was taken on Esther's 2nd birthday down at the Wild Animal Park and the second one was taken 2 weeks ago. Not a huge difference, but a noticable one.

Wild Animal Park

We went to the Wild Animal Park a couple of weeks ago and had one of the BEST times we have ever had there. We decided to go a week before Labor Day, because on Labor Day they were ending their Summer Events and we really wanted to see Dino Mountain and the Bubble Show. So ever though it was almost 100 degrees that day, we made the drive down to Escondido while the kids were napping. SO glad we did! First off, no one was there and we had the BEST tram ride (last one of the day)..the guide took a little more time with us because the tram was half full and the animals were super active.

Pictures from Dino Mountain. Both kids were in awe.
The look on Esther's face is priceless!!

One amazing view.

Aren't baby elephants the cutest???

Our little man enjoying the view on Daddy's shoulders.

At the Lion Camp, all the females were taking naps RIGHT on the glass. Something caught their attention and woke them up. So glad we were there to catch this moment.

One of the lions fell asleep with her paw on the glass. Esther thought it was pretty cool and I thought it was a great photo op.

If you ever get a chance to go to the WAP during the summer time, you HAVE to see the Bubble Guy show. It's incredible and definitely kept our attention as well as Esther's. Can't wait to try out some of their tips at home.

The best tram ride ever.

A trip totally worth sweating to death.